Le Friec excels in nailbiting finish

BUTTERFLY specialist Robyn Le Friec was the star of the show among the Beau Sejour Barracudas group on the final weekend of the Hampshire County Championships. That being the last one for those hoping to achieve the consideration times for the Island Games, it was a nerve-racking experience for some, but Le Friec had no need to worry. The 17-year-old Ladies' College student secured her place in the team for Rhodes by winning the penultimate event of the weekend, the 50m butterfly.

'Robyn trains really hard and she never misses training,' said her coach Alison Frankland.

'She thoroughly deserves the success she's having at the moment. She's a very competitive swimmer and that's why she's getting such results.'

In a nail-biting finish to the 50m butterfly, she touched out her nearest rival, Eleanor Selby of Winchester City Penguins, by just 600ths of a second to take the title in a lifetime best of 30.86.

In all, she reached five finals. She clinched bronze in the 100m freestyle in a time of 1.02.01, fourth in the 200m butterfly and freestyle and seventh in the 100m butterfly. She also claimed two gold, two silver and three bronze medals in her age group.

The second championship title for the Barracudas was won by Jonathan Le Noury in the 1,500 freestyle.

He finished a massive 13 seconds ahead of his nearest rival to take the title in a time of 16-39.16.

Although outside his best, he was pleased to have achieved the Island Games qualifying time in preparation to defend his title in Rhodes.

Over the weekend, he reached four finals in the men's open section: he finished in silver medal position in the 50m backstroke, bronze in the 100m backstroke and sixth and eighth in the 200 and 100m freestyle respectively.

He also picked up gold medals in his age group in the 400 and 200m freestyle and bronze in the 100m backstroke and 100 m freestyle.

The third championship title of the weekend went to Victoria Parfit who won the 16-and-under junior title in the 200m breaststroke, in addition to picking up third place honours at the 100m distance.

Although still only 13 and having competed successfully in the two previous weekends under the British Age Group Category Awards Scheme, she achieved the qualifying standard to compete at open and junior level in no fewer than 15 events.

With heats and finals running almost back to back, Jeremy Osborne was kept busy all weekend.

The freestyle star reached five finals: his best performances came in the men's open 100 and 200m freestyle.

For the shorter race, he joined fellow Sarnians Le Noury, Ian Hubert and Ben Lowndes in the line-up for the final of the most coveted award in swimming, the men's 100m freestyle.

Osborne took second, just under half-a-second behind the winner, Daniel Crook of Fareham Nomads, two years his senior.

He also had to be content with second place honours in the 200m freestyle in which he was pipped to the post by James Stockdale of Portsmouth Northsea, also two years his senior.

He also placed third overall in the 50m freestyle, in addition to claiming six gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the 16 years group.

Following the disappointing news that four-times Island Games gold medalist and record holder Tom Hollingsworth had pulled out of the Games to concentrate on the national championships, swimmers have had to made adjustments to their training programme at the last minute in order to help fill the gaps he has left.

None more so than Hubert who has worked tirelessly to achieve the qualifying times in the 100 and 200m butterfly events. Reaching four finals, he placed fifth in the 100m butterfly and sixth in the 200m distance to record lifetime bests of 1.00.45 and 2.15.01.

He also claimed two gold and three silver medals in his age group.

After a gap from serious training of several years, Chloe Brehaut, a previous Island Games swimmer and backstroke specialist, looks all set to gain a place in the Island Games team.

Her performance over the weekend was impressive as she reached three finals, placing fourth overall in the 100m backstroke and 100m individual medley and 5th in the 50m backstroke. Adding to this success, she won three gold in the 19-plus age group, two silver and two bronze medals.

Justifying her place in the Games team, Joanna Laine produced excellent performances to reach two finals, placing fourth overall in the 50m backstroke and fifth in the 100m individual medley.

She also claimed two silver medals in her age group.

Competing in the same one, Rachael Le Page pulled out all the stops to reach two finals, the 100m breaststroke and 100m individual medley in addition to winning individual gold, silver and two bronze medals in her age category.

Looking to defend his Games title in the 50m breaststroke, Matthew Robert, now studying at university, reached the final to record a season's best time of 31.35 placing forth overall.

He also reached the final in the 100m breaststroke placing fifth overall and claiming a silver medal in his age group.

Other notable performances came from Paul and Chris Adkins, Jack Le Poidevin, Jennifer Salmon, Gemma Nicolle, Matthew Allen, Louisa Jurkiewicz, Lauren Judge and Katie Salmon.

Showing great potential for the future at their first appearance at senior level, there were some outstanding medal-winning performances coming from Jacob Cherry, Rosie Le Friec, James Jurkiewicz, Edward Dickinson, Sunny Gosselin and Hannah James.